GIRLS BASKETBALL: Spring-Ford vs. Cumberland Valley breakdown

Brittany Moore (10), Sarah Payonk (54), Shelby Mueller (5), Courtney Hinnant (14) and the Spring-Ford girls basketball team overcame one of their toughest tests of the season Tuesday in a semifinal win over Cardinal O’Hara and are set to face District 3’s Cumberland Valley in the state championship game Friday night at Giant Center in Hershey. (Photo by John Strickler/The Mercury)

If you’re looking for someone to break down Friday’s PIAA Class AAAA girls basketball championship matchup between District 1 champion Spring-Ford and District 3 No. 5 seed Cumberland Valley, there’s likely no one more qualified than Mount St. Joseph Academy coach John Miller.

First off, Miller is one of the most successful and highly respected coaches in the state.

Perhaps more importantly, Miller’s squad lost just four times in 30 games this season. Two of those defeats were to Spring-Ford. The other two were to Cumberland Valley.

One thing that won’t be hard to predict is that the game will feature a battle of contrasting styles.

“I think both teams are very talented,” Miller said. “What Spring-Ford does very well is that they just put defensive pressure on you the entire game. They’ll press you fullcourt, and then when you’re trying to run halfcourt sets, they’ll very intelligently double-team you. I think the biggest key for Cumberland Valley is to be able to take care of the ball and limit their turnovers.”

According to Miller, though, Spring-Ford will need to be at its defensive best to shut down the Eagles’ explosive attack.

“In my opinion, Cumberland Valley has three Division 1 players,” Miller said. “They have a lot of offensive firepower, and that for Spring-Ford to win the game they need to contain particularly those three players.

“I think those are the two key issues looking at both teams: Spring-Ford’s defensive pressure against Cumberland Valley’s offensive firepower. Spring-Ford is also deep; they bring two very talented players (Courtney Hinnant and Maggie Locke) off the bench. I was at the O’Hara game (the Rams’ 53-49 semifinal victory), and it was evident to me that Spring-Ford kept applying that pressure throughout the entire game using seven kids. I think physically, at times, it was wearing down some of the O’Hara players. That’s what Spring-Ford tries to do to you, and they’re very good at doing that.”

Wilson coach Doug Myer, whose Berks Conference and District 3 champ Bulldogs advanced to the second round of the PIAA tourney, is also quite familiar with both the Rams and Eagles.

Wilson defeated Cumberland Valley 50-34 in the regular season (though Falconer was significantly slowed by illness) and also lost 52-43 to Spring-Ford in the AFBE Classic.

“The whole thing is that I think Cumberland Valley’s guards are going to handle Spring-Ford’s pressure,” Myer said. “It’s one of those things where they might handle it ... but you’ve got to handle it for 32 minutes. Spring-Ford is going to get some kind of 6-0 spurt just off their defense.

“You look at Cumberland Valley and they just score a lot of points. One thing Cumberland Valley has going for them is that any one of those three kids can score 15 or more points. That’s kind of tough, defensively, to try and key on three people.”

How well Spring-Ford limits Cumberland Valley’s three-pronged arsenal or how effectively the Eagles can pierce the Rams’ defensive armor will go a long way in determining who will be bringing home state gold.

A WINNING YEAR

Some high school athletes never get a chance to enjoy a .500-plus season, let alone experience the ridiculously successful senior year Spring-Ford’s Sammi Haas has thus far.

In the fall, Haas was a starter for the Rams’ field hockey team, which went 19-1 and won the PAC-10 championship.

Now, she also starts at guard for the basketball squad, which has lost just twice in 33 games.

For the record, that’s an overall winning percentage of 94.3 (50-3).

PIAA POTPOURRI

Eight state championships ­­­­— four Friday and four more Saturday — will be contested this weekend at Hershey’s Giant Center.

Today’s slate opens with the Class AA girls final between York Catholic and Bishop Canevin at noon. Vaux and Johnsonburg will meet for the Class A boys title at 2 p.m. The Spring-Ford/Cumberland Valley girls AAAA final kicks off the second session at 6 p.m., to be followed by the AAA boys final between Imhotep Charter and Archbishop Carroll at 8 p.m.

Saturday’s action kicks off at noon, with the Class A girls final between Tri-Valley and Vincentian. Holy Cross and Beaver Falls meet for the Class AA boys title at 2 p.m., Bethlehem Catholic and South Park battle for the Class AAA girls crown at 6 p.m., and Chester and Lower Merion square off in the Class AAAA boys championship at 8 p.m.